It's dark.
So dark I can't see anything.
Where am I?
How... Do I get out of here?
I want to scream, but what if something hears me? Something other than them?
What should I do?
I hate it here.
I'm alone.
It's dark.
Just like it was in there.
I don't want to go back.
I don't want to remain here.
I don't want to be forgotten.
Will they find me?
But how will they find me if I remain silent?
I want them to find me regardless.n0VELusB.C0m
I don't want to stay here.
It's dark all around.
I can't tell where I am.
Will they find me?
Or will I-
A ray of light suddenly pierced the surrounding darkness.
The hole through that darkness expanded and expanded.
They were her light.
And thew had found her.
"Poor you... How did you end up here?" Elisa muttered as she reached towards Krista.
Mark cast away the plot of land that had entrapped the latter.
"We could barely hear you in there. How did that happen?"
The Moonlit Feline thought it had remained entirely quiet, but it seemed that a certain degree of whimpering couldn't be avoided.
"Found her first." Mark remarked as Elisa held and pulled Krista out of the hole she had found herself trapped in.
"And?"
The white-scaled Monster didn't answer, but its facial expression did scream of victory.
"You're stupid. Here, hold her."
"Huh, why?" Mark was perplexed.
Holding Krista, he didn't mind of course.
Being told to do so, on the other hand, did feel strange.
"She's shaking. Has been for a while I would bet. What kind of Master are you?" Elisa questioned as she forced the Moonlit Feline into the white-scaled Monster's hands. "I told you already, if you won't take care of her, I will. So take care of her."
"Fine..." Mark grumbled as he held Krista between his arms. She was shaking, and much more than he had expected. "What are you scared for? You're strong enough to fend off for youself out here, you know?" The white-scaled Monster's hand stroke the Moonlit Feline white fur. Its hairs were standing on end, and it took a while for them to stop doing so.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Elisa clicked her tongue repeatedly. "You're quite the dum dum, aren't you?" She walked away, and Mark was left perplexed for a bit.
"I don't really get it. Do you?" The white-scaled Monster muttered before lowering its gaze towards the Moonlit Feline.
Despite its shaking, the latter did its best to raise and lower its eyebrows repeatedly.
"Mm..." Mark looked away from Krista for a bit. "You weren't scared that we would forget about you or something, were you?"
A shiver went through the Moonlit Feline's body.
"Huh... Really? You're quite the dum dum too then. Like Master, like Underling, I guess." The words did make one of Krista's eyebrows twitch. "I'm never forgetting about you, Krista. I'll be there when you need me. And so will Elisa, alright? You can trust her. She likes you a lot."
The first part did make the Moonlit Feline's previously shaking body freeze, but the second didn't fail to make her snicker.
"What's so funny? Oh... Me telling you about trusting Elisa?" He chuckled. "Yeah. I get that..."
The Moonlit Feline's snickering continued as its hairs starting calming down and Mark laughed for a bit.
Suddenly, a hand was placed on the Moonlit Feline's head, and the other on the white-scaled Monster's.
"Would you look at that!! Kitty cat and guard dog are having a moment!!" Elisa teased as she stroke both of their heads aggressively, almost pushing them down.
The white-scaled Monster beared with it for a bit but,
"Fuck off me." Mark cursed as both he and Krista brushed off the hand on their heads.
"No need for such foul language." Elisa grinned brightly.
"I feel like you curse more often than I do."
"Absolutely not." Elisa turned around quickly. "A Princess wouldn't curse that much. I, as a Princess, therefore, do not."
"Whatever you say." Mark chuckled as he turned towards the Moonlit Feline who had started snickering once more and whose stopped shaking had subsided.
***
Meanwhile, somewhere in the Realm Of Humans,
"C'mon. Out you go little guys." A dark-haired man said with a playfull voice and a large smile on his face.
A smile that hit many secrets, and even more suppressed feelings and urges.
"C'mon. Doggos. Fish guy. The bug too. Everyone out. C'mon." The Vampire Lord said as he made the Necklaces in his hands spin around his index fingers.
"How dare you..." With the voice resonating, flames started stemming from one of the necklaces. It caught fire, but didn't seem to cause one bit of pain or worry to the Vampire Lord. If anything, he found that the spinning necklace looked better and more approriate now. "Turn my Core into a damn Necklace?!"
"Don't be mad, Nameless Spirit." Raven chuckled but his eyes narrowed. "I know your type. You like it rough, don't you?"
"Huh?" The Fire Sprit that had just appeared in front of the Vampire Lord was left bewildered and confused by the latter's words. So confused that he forgot to act on his anger.
"You like it rough, I said. It's obvious. Only reason a Spirit would want to hang around that so-called Monster."
"I... What?"
During the demonstration that Raven had showcased a couple of days ago, the Fire Spirit learned a lot.
Somz things he wished he hadn't learned.
Many he wished to have never seen
And even more he wished to forget.
During that showcase, Raven had gone to great length to show what it meant to "do it rough" or to "like it rough".
It's not like the Fire Spirit had been told these things or that he even wanted to hear them. He, as a Spirit, was forced to hear, if not see, everything that happened around the Core's detainer.
Raven being the Core's detainer did not make it an easy ride for the proud, and once innocent, Fire Spirit.
"Shut the fuck up."
"That's all you could come up with? After thinking for so long? Didn't you learn anything from me and the girls while we were-"
"Don't say another word."
"Make me." Raven challenged with a daring smile.
"I can't." The Fire Spirit looked away. It had already tried three times after all.
"Then beg me." Raven's smile widened.
"Fuck you."
"Well, anyways. Tell the others to get out and I'll let you be, alright? How about that?"
"There are no others."
"You think you're that different from them?" Raven mocked.
"I am."
The Fire Spirit looked around for a bit.
'A dark cave? Looks familiar..." He thought
"Well... Nothing I can do about it if they won't leave."
The Vampire Lord shrugged before taking a step forward.
The next second, both the Fire Spirits flames and the Underling Necklace started shaking violently.
[You have entered the Dungeon "Holy Knights' Graveyard".]
[Dungeon Rank: C.]
In front of this message, the Underlings, even inside the Underling Necklace couldn't help but shake.
A [C] Ranked Dungeon was nothing to sneeze at.
They instinctively knew that.
The Dungeon being [C] Ranked meant that the Monsters would probably have that Rank and the Boss Monster, probably a Rank above.
"Are you trying to get them killed?" The Fire Spirit asked. It tried its best to hide its nervousness, but when targeted by Raven's sharp gaze, this was no easy task.
"Killed? Are you serious?"
"What then-"
"If I wanted them killed, I would crush the Necklace, smart guy." Raven mocked as he walked forward and waved a hand.
"Then...?"
The spinning Necklace was thrown into the air before it was grabbed.
Pressure-
"Stop-"
"I'll break it if they don't leave it."
"They won't. They won't cooperate with-"
"Cooperate?" The Vampire Lord's eyebrow twitched, and the temperature inside the dark cave seemed to drop significantly. It seemed to drop so rapidly that the Fire Spirit felt its flames could be extinguished simply by that drop. Simply by that pressure. By the Vampire Lord's Aura.
Raven stared at the silent Fire Spirit for a bit.
The way its flames were moving... Mm.
He was pleased.
And so, the tension and pressure disappeared.
'What the hell was that??'
"C'mon now, I'm offering you an easy path to the top."
"Huh?"
"Well, your diligent, benevolent, and loving Master did ask me to take care of you all, didn't he? From the moment he stepped outside that Dungeon, he's been getting stronger. If you all don't do the same, you'll be left behind."
A heavy silence filled the cave after those words.
The Necklace shook after a while.
An offer to Level Up and Evolve by using the seemingly invincible Vampire Lord?
All of the Underlings couldn't simply trust that man's words.
Still, there was an undeniable fact that the Vampire Lord had stated.
If you all don't do the same, you'll be left behind-
The first one to take up Raven on his offer was...
